Livestock, leopards and brown hyaenas: conflicts of cohabitation in the Roodewalshoek Conservancy, Mpumalanga

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English: Conflict between livestock farmers and predators has been an ongoing battle since the breeding of domestic animals were first attempted by man. Insufficient data on the dynamics of predators, especially in regions outside formal protected areas where they are perceived as problem animals, make control methods almost impossible. Due to complaints of predation by cattle farmers in the unspoiled Roodewalshoek Conservancy, the dynamics of livestock predation was investigated. Specific emphasis was placed on the relationship between the ecological traits of leopard, brown hyaena and natural prey species and the consequences thereof on livestock losses. Investigations were carried out by means of motion-sensing camera traps, combined with seasonal field observations of all physical signs of animals. The presence of recorded prey species showed a monthly variation, with some prey species present all year round while others showed definite periods of occurrence. Rainfall seemed to have some influence on the occurrence of such species. Most small potential prey species was observed continuously during the winter months and only sporadically during the summer. Medium sized potential prey species that occurred on a constant basis throughout the year in the study area included bushbuck, Chacma baboons and common grey duikers. Sporadic occurrence of impala and mountain reedbuck were encountered mostly during the mid-summer months, especially during December. All species classified as large prey were continuously present throughout the year, except for the aardvark which showed a sporadic presence and were mostly observed during mid-summer. Large predators were continually observed in the conservancy except in late summer during the month of January and reached highest numbers during early autumn, mid-winter and in the height of summer. All the other predators, including small and medium-sized predators, were present on a frequent basis except during late summer and only reached a high in mid-winter and early spring. It was also evident that, when the presence of large predators in the study area increased, the presence of other predators diminished. The majority of calves (59%) were killed by predators during the wet summer months, while only 41% of calves were predated upon during winter months with low precipitation. Lunar cycles seem to play a distinctive role in livestock predation with almost two thirds of calves lost to predators when moonlight intensity was low. Even though sufficient occurrences of natural prey could be found in the Roodewalshoek Conservancy, predation on livestock persists during the calving season. Regarding the key predator of livestock in the conservancy, both leopards and brown hyaenas were almost equally accountable and displayed alternating periods of calf predation. Instances of predation where the problem animal could be identified, implicated brown hyaenas in 48% and leopards in 52% of livestock losses. During times when brown hyaenas were responsible for the most calf losses, predation caused by leopards was low. High incidences of leopard predation consequently resulted in lowered brown hyaena predation. This could be due to inter-predator competition for shared resources. The behaviour of surplus-killing by both predator species is indicative of the ability to fully exploit all the available resources in their area. The relatively large number of livestock lost to predation each year may be due to a combination of several factors. These include the lack of predator control in adjacent game farms and other protected areas, continuous presence of livestock, leopards and brown hyaenas as well as the open, unattended system in which livestock is kept in the Roodewalshoek Conservancy.